Tom Kennedy learned about the long-term contamination of his family’s drinking water about two months after he was told that his breast cancer had metastasized to his brain and was terminal.
The troubles tainting his tap: per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a broad category of chemicals invented in the mid-1900s to add desirable properties such as stain-proofing and anti-sticking to shoes, cookware and other everyday objects.
President-elect Joe Biden’s rush to renewable energy may open up a host of cybersecurity dangers if more isn’t done to secure the technology from hackers.
Fast-evolving solar and wind technologies pose new risks to power grid security, especially as smaller renewable energy companies often lack resources to fight against hackers, experts warn. And a recently discovered hacking campaign targeting federal agencies and potentially hundreds of energy companies only underscores the scale of the challenge.
Shimmick Construction Co. has been awarded a nearly $87 million contract to build Antioch’s brackish water desalination plant.
The City Council unanimously approved the company’s bid during a special meeting Friday after rejecting a protest bid from C. Overaa & Co., which also wanted the job. The $86,689,000 contract with Shimmick will include a 5% contingency of $4,334,450 in case of unforeseen costs for a total of $91,023,450.
In addition, council members authorized city staff to increase the total budget for the desalination project to $110 million. Earlier projections had estimated it would cost nearly $70 million.
President-elect Joe Biden last week picked veteran environmental attorney Brenda Mallory to help guide federal environmental permitting as the incoming administration gears up to build massive infrastructure projects across the United States.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to worsen, it’s more important than ever that all Californians have reliable access to clean, safe water. At the most basic level, our health depends on it: water is essential for the handwashing and cleaning that helps eliminate the virus. Water also is indispensable for our food supply, jobs and economy.
A set of guidelines for managing the Colorado River helped several states through a dry spell, but it’s not enough to keep key reservoirs in the American West from plummeting amid persistent drought and climate change, according to a U.S. report released Friday.
Millions of people in seven states and Mexico rely on the river for drinking water and growing crops. The 2007 guidelines were meant to lessen the blow of any future cuts in the water supply for growing areas, giving states an idea of what to expect each year and ways to manage the risks.
While negotiators largely sidelined energy issues during months of stalled talks on COVID-19 relief, a number of significant energy and environmental provisions will hitch a ride on the year-end agreement set to pass today.
House and Senate leaders yesterday announced they had reached a deal on a $1.4 trillion fiscal 2021 spending omnibus, pandemic relief legislation and a number of major items that will ride along. Final text had yet to be released by publication time.
Our country is currently in the midst of the greatest transfer of wealth in the history of mankind – not in 10 or 20 years – but today. Much has been written about the Silver Tsunami, roughly defined as the wave of water and wastewater operator retirements across the country. And yet, while every industry conference (virtual or not) reminds us about the latest operator to hang up his or her hat, relatively little attention has been paid to the challenges we face as similar retirement trends plague private businesses servicing the industry across the country.
Backers of a $3 billion project to construct the tallest dam in California swear the project isn’t dead, despite the Temperance Flat Reservoir Authority returning money and canceling applications. After it became clear that the reservoir project on the San Joaquin River west of Auberry would not reach upcoming deadlines for studies and funding, Temperance Flat Reservoir Authority declined $171 million designated by the California Water Commission and withdrew its application for additional funding, according to a resolution signed by the Authority on Oct. 30.
There’s an ecological crisis underway in California’s lonely corner of the American West.
Invasive grasses are causing fires to explode. Wild horses are trampling fragile habitats. Thousands of water birds are dying miserable deaths. Wolves are settling down in hostile territory.
